Diagnosing Knee Pain

Diagnosing Knee Pain for More Effective Treatment

You probably never knew before that the knee is one of the most complex joints in the entire body. Every day it was forced withstand tremendous stress  and abuse being forced on it on a daily basis.The knee is one of the areas most vulnerable and often injured throughout the body because the body we put so much reliance on it. Effective treatment of knee problems that required the proper diagnosis knee pain, especially source of the problem and it was not easy because of the immense complexity of this joint. While utilizing x-rays are typically the most common first approach to a diagnosis, they usually do not offer the amount of pertinent and in depth information that is necessary. So what is the best test for diagnosing knee pain?.

Test for Diagnosing Knee pain

There are many potential causes for pain in the knee, as well as the different tests that your doctor might do to make an accurate diagnosis. Although knee pain is common can cause injuries ranging from an underlying medical condition. Tests also range in complexity and purpose. If you have a sore knee that will not seem to go away, see your doctor for a diagnosing knee pain. Normally, knee pain is caused by some kind of injury or a medical condition. Medical conditions like gout or pseudogout, or rheumatoid arthritis, septic arthritis or osteoarthritis can cause knee pain. Osgood-Schlatter disease and disorders involving your ligaments or kneecap alignment can also cause knee pain. Injuries like sprains, strains and fractures, as well as kneecap or joint dislocation can lead to chronic knee pain, notes the University of Michigan Health System. Knee pain can arise from damage to your cartilage like a torn meniscus, knee bursitis, patellar tendinitis or injury to your anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

A common test that helps to discover injuries to your ACL is called a Lachman's Test. The test involves flexing leg at a sharp angle and then having the doctor try to move your calf forward. If the leg can move without inhibition, it's quite possible that you could have an ACL tear. There are similar tests to determine tears and trauma to other ligaments in the knee, such as the PCL, as well as tests for the menisci and tendons.

In some cases, the general tests may give a false result. If movement in the knee is blocked by things such as swelling or tight muscles in the front or the back of the leg, the doctor may request a MRI (magnetic resonance image) to help aid the diagnosis.

The MRI specializes in detecting trauma to ligaments, tendons and muscles, while the X-ray which is mainly used to detect problems within bone. The MRI can assist in pinpointing soft tissue injuries the X-ray would miss. On most occasions, however, the physical exam will be enough.

Based on the diagnosis your doctor suspects, he or she may suggest other computerized tests other than an MRI, including a X-Ray to determine if you have bone fractures that could be causing the chronic knee pain and a CT (computerized tomography) scan that creates images that are cross-sectional of the body to help detect possible cracks, fissures or loose bone particles within the three-dimensional knee area.

Diagnosing knee pain remains to be done even if your knee pain is not serious or chronic. If you don't have your knee pain treated, you can suffer persistent, intensifying pain and loss of mobility or disability, depending on your age, health status and knee-pain severity, a health care professional may recommend that you reduce your physical activity, take certain medications or even undergo surgery, notes the University of Michigan Health System. Testing and an accurate diagnosis will indicate the appropriate treatment to resolve your knee pain.

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